malleable iron castings
malleable iron castings
(OP)
We have some malleable iron wire rope clips which have broken. On the inside of the parts can be seen a dark formation. Some formations are larger than others but every broken piece has some measure of this dark formation. Does anyone have any insight into what this dark formation is? Is it rust? How does rust get into the inside (no dark formation appear on the outside of the parts) of a malleable iron casting? Could the dark formation have appeared as a result of the breakage?





RE: malleable iron castings
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: malleable iron castings
Charlie
www.facsco.com
RE: malleable iron castings
RE: malleable iron castings
It appears parts could have cracks, it then obtained corrosion.
cut up a good & failed parts & then do a failure analysis on both parts.
have all parts 100% magnafluxed.
Mfgenggear
RE: malleable iron castings
From my water well days, we had a problem with pin holes. A tiny, even microscopic, hole in the galvanizing is more of a problem than a large area that isn't galvanized. It's sort of like pressure, the tiny pin hole concentrates the corrosion process, and accelerates the oxidation. That looks like rust to me, and that's why they broke. The pin holes in the galvanizing caused it to rust within. When you look at the parts, the rust probably starts at the surface on at least one section. The pin hole is the tip of the iceberg.
Charlie
www.facsco.com
RE: malleable iron castings
RE: malleable iron castings
but these parts had visual corrosion from the center of the parts, which means possible cracks.
and moisture or contamination was present.
if the parts are cracked it will fail right?
I would think if the plating was porus it it have subsurface oxidation or corrosion.
it would be prudent to strip off the plating & visually verify the surface. then process the part thru NDT.
Mfgenggear
RE: malleable iron castings
Hot dip galvanizing is just not a good process, and that's what these are. A pin hole in the galvanized surface will not show up on the surface, because it is galvanized. It will undermine the galvanized surface, and attack within. You can see clearly on the left hand picture the rust almost looks like a tiny bored hole; and on the surface, there is a discoloration around the hole. This is the rust under the surface of the galvanizing.
These parts did not crack, and then rust. They rusted, and then cracked. The pattern of the rust suggest this. The two parts, the one on the left, and the one in the middle show this fairly clearly.
You can not "strip" off the plating without destroying the evidence. If the parts need to be examined, then a metallurgical laboratory has to take sections, and then make an analysis.
Charlie
www.facsco.com
RE: malleable iron castings
RE: malleable iron castings
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"It's better to die standing than live your whole life on the knees" by Peter Mayle in his book A Good Year
RE: malleable iron castings
About the pin hole theory:
shouldn't the galvanization (which is done with zinc IIRC) always oxidate faster than the steal because of cathodic protection?
What causes the rust to form in the iron?
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RE: malleable iron castings
Charlie
www.facsco.com
RE: malleable iron castings
RE: malleable iron castings
Trapped water is a big no-no in galvanizing and can cause steam explosions.
RE: malleable iron castings
Interesting notation
I also believe that capillary action was taking place into the parts during the clean &/or pickle process prior to plate.
but any thing possible. yes I know wait for the analysis.
HTH
Mfgenggear
RE: malleable iron castings
RE: malleable iron castings
RE: malleable iron castings
What are you using the malleable iron rope clips for? I hope it's not for anything that must hold a critical load. In entertainment rigging (and rigging more generally), they're specifically prohibited (not really prohibited, but industry best practice is not to use them) because they're not subject to any quality control. Many have casting flaws and metallurgy issues, and because they're imported from overseas, you can't trace them. One popular saying is, "if they fail, you can't sue China."
If you're set on using wire rope clips, use ones from a reputable, traceable, domestic manufacturer, like Crosby. Their clips are forged, and each heat of steel is traceable should there be any issue.
That being said, why use wire rope clips at all? They're bulky, snag stuff, tend to loosen, and are very hard to get torqued to spec. On a good day, wire rope terminated properly, with rated clips, is only good to 75% of the breaking strength of the cable. Usually, it's more like 60% before slippage, because the smaller ones are so damn hard to torque to spec. Not to mention what happens if the clips are put on the cable backwards.
Consider the use of swaged terminations, like products from Nicopress. Copper sleeves are best (no brittle fracture under shock loads) and you can get tin plated copper sleeves for use with galvanized wire rope in outdoor conditions. Stay away from aluminum sleeves, especially in outdoor applications, where corrosion may be present. Stainless sleeves are also available for use with stainless cable. They're rated to 100% of the breaking strength of the cable (or 95% if you're conservative).
All your issues go away if you steer clear of crappy hardware. Based on your picture, it looks like your clips are no larger than 1/4" or so. At that size, a hand swaging tool is perfectly acceptable and usable.
-SceneryDriver